U.S. Knews of Human Rights Abuses in Guatemala

Last week, I brought you the "where" of Alberto. This week I bring the "why." Like many Central Americans I have previewed on this site, Alberto can only be added to my list of those displaced due to civil war and violence. Guatemala experienced one of the longest (30 years, circa 1960 to 1996) and deadliest (up to 200,000 dead) civil wars in Latin America. Alberto's family, his being in Norfolk, can be traced back to the 1980s, when his family fled the increased terror under Fernando Romeo Lucas.

Guatemalans protesting disappearances in 1980s

Documents released last week by the National Security Archives reveal the extent of US involvement in the human rights abuses in Guatemala from the early 1960s until the peace accords in 1996.

The US State Department acknowledged throughout the thirty-six year civil war that it knew of the kidnappings of activists, labor organizers and high school students perpetrated by the Guatemalan government, and did nothing to halt the abuses.

"The government is obviously rounding up people connected with the extreme left-wing labor movement for interrogation," then-U.S. Ambassador Frederic Chapin said in a 1984 cable.

The most infamous case, one that Chapin actually thought would be solved, was the disappearance of Fernando García, a student and labor leader, who was declared missing in 1984. Records from the released documents show his name appearing on a log of kidnapped persons kept by the Guatemalan National Guard.

Last week, Guatemalan authorities arrested two police officers on charges related to the 1984 disappearance of Edgar Fernando García, a trade union activist.

Guatemala's military often have secured immunity from prosecution under the 1996 accords for crimes, which NYU historian Greg Grandin, who was a part of the true commission in that country in the late-1990s has called "genocide."

200,000 people were killed in the Guatemala's civil war. The majority peasant and Indian, which makes up 87 percent of the country.

The US supplied weapons, aid, training and support throughout the thirty-six year war, which some could say began in 1954, with the CIA-backed overthrown of elected president Jacobo Arbenz - the first such action in Latin America.

For more information, visit:
National Security Archives
Guatemalan Solidarity

Colbert and Sinatra (Where)

It's not coincidence that I have fallen behind in my posting. My original idea for a post that must contain on one of the five "w's" (who, what, when, where or why) fell short of expectations. Thus, this post will blend with my news post posted later this week.


It is quiet in here. It is modern in here. It is eclectic in here. Those are a few of my opening salvos as I waltz in from the rain into my friend Alberto's house. It is an apartment, like others who live off campus, but the story - the who, what, when, and why of the equation is the interesting part. ("Why" will be covered next week.)


Suffice to say, Alberto is from Guatemala. Not studying abroad as much as living. He calls this home. He doesn't live alone, but one cannot mistake his style for that of a norteamericano. He tries to pass off this Frank Sinatra and Stephen Colbert poster on his roommate. "A real norteamericano," he laughs.


Times are tough (who's aren't) and for students it's been worse. His home, however, does not exude poverty or struggle. It is clean and, at times, annoyingly proper.

"Let's dispel the myths - my home in Guatemala was nicer than here, minus the staircase," he said.



Home is where the heart is - and it is becoming increasingly clear that home is becoming more streamlined and generic. Alberto agrees. If he had it his way, it would be more reflective of him but like all partnerships, he and his roommate must share. That means Sinatra and Colbert (he finally admits it is his). A typical home, in a typical town, with typical kids worrying about more than design choices.